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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To question what Biden's win means for any UK trade deals (economy)?

274 replies

Officebox · 07/11/2020 21:03

I'm delighted about Joe Biden's and Kamala Harris' election win! Great news! The world seems to be happy about this result too! Yay!!! Smile

However, reading reports about the future of UK and US relations following this change in power at the White House, AIBU to be a bit worried for Britain? Confused

The UK is in the middle of Brexit trade negotiations that will impact the economy. Can/will the Biden win impact trade negotiation deals one way or another?

Boris Johnson congratulates Joe Biden on US election win 'Special relationship' may face downgrade...

"They won't be seen as natural allies: Joe Biden, the seasoned Democrat, and Boris Johnson, the bombastic Brexiteer.
In looking at how their future relationship might work, it's worth considering the past. Specifically that seminal year, 2016, when Donald Trump won the White House and the UK voted to leave the EU. Both Mr Biden and his boss at the time, Barack Obama, made no secret they preferred another outcome on Brexit." - Jessica Parker, Political Correspondent

A special relationship or back of the queue: What could a Biden or Trump victory mean for the UK economy after Brexit?

Brexit and the US election: What the Trump v Biden result could mean for the UK

And many more...

What's everyone else's thoughts?

OP posts:
bellinisurge · 08/11/2020 14:59

The GFA sorted all that for you @Pikachubaby . Wonder why Brexiteers want to fuck it up?

OchonAgusOchonO · 08/11/2020 15:06

@Pikachubaby - I did read the daily mail, was that photo of Biden with the IRA refugee who tried to kill a soldier fake news?

You mean the photo taken 3 years ago of the then USA Sinn Féin representative who has not been convicted of any crime?

Helmetbymidnight · 08/11/2020 15:12

so is it fair to say that if oven ready brexit doesnt bring all the many positives and our 'taking control' that its now not only the eus fault but americas fault too?

TheKeatingFive · 08/11/2020 15:14

its now not only the eus fault but americas fault too?

The more scapegoats to blame the better

Helmetbymidnight · 08/11/2020 15:17

i forgot people who voted remain. we're the worst, true self-harmers. Confused

FoolsAssassin · 08/11/2020 15:18

@Helmetbymidnight

so is it fair to say that if oven ready brexit doesnt bring all the many positives and our 'taking control' that its now not only the eus fault but americas fault too?
Yes that is indeed fair to say.
Leaannb · 08/11/2020 15:27

@Peridot2020

Actually, *@LordLancington*, I'll be ecstatic (if astonished) if anything much can be salvaged from the Brexit Trainwreck. Except maybe a Unicorn Sanctuary in Kent, right next to the portaloos and the Nigel Farage Memorial Car Park.

On the subject of the US election, I've seen headlines the last couple of days saying that Biden isn't a friend to the UK. He's not a fan of BJ. That's rather different, though I rather think he'll have bigger fish to fry than this isolated little group of islands. We're just lucky we share a mother tongue with the United States, otherwise we'd probably have been consigned to our rightful place in the atlas long before this.

I still don't think Leavers understand, or ever have understood, what a daft decision it has been to deliberately leave the biggest trading bloc in the world and what the real implications are.

The EU is not perfect; nothing is. I made my decision based on rationally looking at imports and exports, of services and people, not just of goods. Where goods are concerned, this applies especially to fresh produce. Just take a walk round Tesco, virtually if necessary, to see what percentage of our fresh food comes in through the ports, and how much of the rest is harvested by, say, Eastern Europeans in Lincolnshire, Devon, etc.

And then do the same for medicines; just have a look at where paracetamol, say, is actually manufactured, not packaged. And then have a look at your local hospital, and check out how many registered nurses, in particular, are immigrants, and paying us handsomely for the privilege.

And then take a look at how many large institutions, including banks, are removing themselves from England, either to Ireland, or to mainland Europe.

Biden is Irish Catholic. He still has family in Ireland. The GFA is not political for him. It means something. He doesn't like Boris. Never has and was quite outspoken about Brexit and the GFA when Brexit was first voted on. If Boris thinks he is going to get a good trade deal out of Biden while jerking the GFA around he is sadly mistaken.
Mrsorganmorgan · 08/11/2020 15:34

I am Welsh and I voted Remain as did all my family. Does anyone think there might be a slim chance of re-entering the EU?

Can't stand Boris!

OchonAgusOchonO · 08/11/2020 15:42

@Mrsorganmorgan - I am Welsh and I voted Remain as did all my family. Does anyone think there might be a slim chance of re-entering the EU?

I can't see the EU agreeing to that at this stage of the game. The UK has been a negative force in the EU for a number of years and if brexit was reversed at this stage, it would only get worse.

Maybe in 5 or 10 years, once the brexiteers can see the reality of brexit, it might be a possibility. I would assume the UK would re-enter under the same terms as any other new entrant rather than the privileged position that you had before leaving.

Mrsorganmorgan · 08/11/2020 15:47

How awfully sad.@OchonAgusOchonO

Mrsorganmorgan · 08/11/2020 15:57

Should I join "Yes Cymru" (independence for Wales Annibyniaeth)

LordLancington · 08/11/2020 16:00

I'm on the fence about Brexit tbh. No doubt it's a hassle we don't need right now amidst the whole covid thing, which will undoubtedly screw the economy on its own. But wasn't out trade with the EU gradually declining to the point where it was unlikely to be sustainable in the future anyway?

DGRossetti · 08/11/2020 16:06

But wasn't out trade with the EU gradually declining to the point where it was unlikely to be sustainable in the future anyway?

No.

OchonAgusOchonO · 08/11/2020 16:07

@Mrsorganmorgan - How awfully sad.

Yes. And while I have sympathy for those of you who voted remain, it's hard not to be angry at the negative impact brexit will have on those of us in Ireland. Fair enough, leave, but do it in a way that upholds your international obligations. The utter disdain for Ireland and NI exhibited by the UK government is absolutely appalling.

Mrsorganmorgan · 08/11/2020 16:09

I totally agree

TazMac · 08/11/2020 16:12

Its a well known fact that if Boris fucks this up to the point where this is a hard border Biden will come down hard. It will not be too favorable for the UK. You guys are in a very precarious state. You need the EU and the US and favorable trade deals a lot more than we need you. Thats why I voted for him and so did millions of other Irish Americans,dual citizens (me) and naturalized citizens from the UK.

Trade deals and friendship with Russia and China for us then Smile.

ListeningQuietly · 08/11/2020 16:15

I'm loving the idea that the UK is somehow between the USA and China
spot the person who has never looked at a globe

Mrsorganmorgan · 08/11/2020 16:16

The way this country is going terrifies me

TheKeatingFive · 08/11/2020 16:16

You need the EU and the US and favorable trade deals a lot more than we need you.

Exactly. Those who can’t see this are in cloud cuckoo land.

Havanananana · 08/11/2020 16:19

Johnson (and Raab) seem to be getting awfully confused.

Back in October 2019, Johnson said that he would never sign any agreement with the EU that put a border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. He promised the Ulster Unionists (whose support he relied on in Parliament) that no PM would ever agree to such a thing. But then:

The United Kingdom and European Union have reached an agreement at European Council on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s withdrawal from the European Union. The revised Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration were considered and agreed at European Council on 17 October 2019 www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-withdrawal-agreement-and-political-declaration

This remember was Johnson's 'Oven Ready Deal' - the one that finally took the UK out of the EU on 31st January 2020 so that Johnson could proclaim that he had Got Brexit Done. The Deal that formed the basis of his election campaign last year. It was also the Deal that placed a customs border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

When Johnson finally realised this he thought that he could get away with proposing the Internal Market Bill - the Bill that Brandon Lewis, told the Commons broke international law “in a very specific and limited way."

Now that Biden has won, Johnson and Raab are busy blaming the confusion on the EU.

Raab: "We've been very clear we are absolutely committed to respect the Good Friday Agreement but our argument is, and it was good to have the opportunity when I was in Washington to explain, it is the EU who has put pressure on that with the approach it has taken."

Johnson: "The whole point of that bill... is to protect and uphold the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process in Northern Ireland."

Biden will also have been listening to the Irish government and the Irish lobby in the US. As a Democrat, he has a strong interest in the GFA which was brokered by Democrat George Mitchell. He probably has the measure of Johnson and Raab and has clearly stated that a UK-US trade deal is "contingent" on respect for the peace accord and the prevention of a return to a hard Irish border.

TazMac · 08/11/2020 16:25

@ListeningQuietly

If you are referring to my post then you misinterpreted my post. I didn’t mean that the U.K. is geographically between the USA and China.

MayYouLiveInInterestingTimes · 08/11/2020 16:25

Well Johnson is making all the right noises now on BBC and Sky reports. It’s not impossible that even Johnson and his people recognised that Trump only wanted what was best for Trump, and actually a US interested in international affairs is better for us than not. Bloody hope so.

DeeCeeCherry · 08/11/2020 16:29

Boris is a clown with big man syndrome. Probably thinks USA & EU are desperate to jump to his tune. It will be interesting seeing him try to suck up to Biden, and how future trade talks go. Please God just don't let him attempt to dance, that's all

ListeningQuietly · 08/11/2020 16:31

If you are referring to my post then you misinterpreted my post. I didn’t mean that the U.K. is geographically between the USA and China.
What did you mean then?

Economically we are way below either.
Militarily we are way below either.
Demographically we are way below either.
THe UK is irrelevant to the US and China once its outside the EU envelope.

BritWifeinUSA · 08/11/2020 16:33

Biden will mean nothing to anyone. He won’t even last the 4 years. It’s Kamala Harris you need to be worried about, if anything.